Sourdough starter

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Can't you take sourdough to Australia?

Doubt it very much. I'll just start a new starter over there. It won't take long.
There is a lot of food and drink that you can't take into Australia. Border control is very strict. I've still to work it all out yet. Even some furniture can be a problem with the wood! Most furniture is not going with us just as well we have very little bit I doubt for 1 minute a UK fungal spores mix growing in flour is going to get through customs! So my Highlands of Scotland and my mid Cheshire sourdough starters will be needing a new home soon, but not quite yet. I'm still making all of our bread, around 3 loaves a week and need them for that.

 

[Salty seadog]

sourdough makes the best toast

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

[QUOTE 4195019, member: 76"]Well, if they can be posted, I will be more than happy to host one while you live downunder![/QUOTE]
They're no reason why something can't be posted and it may or may not survive... PM me your address and I can send you a sample of both layer in the week when they are both active again. Just made 4 large loaves and refreshed both starters so will need to give them a little time.

 

[PK99]

[QUOTE 4194184, member: 76"]I have never made sourdough before, but have followed Hugh F-Ws starter recipe, so we will see what happens next week! Anyone got any hints and tips?

View attachment 121479 [/QUOTE]

Go on a course run by a profssional breadmaker or look at much of the you tube guidance and they are always so precious about very precise measurements and timings etc. - for good reason... they are aiming to produce a standardised product that all look the same every time.

I've found that for domestic consumption a much more laid back and flexible approach works just fine.

 

[jefmcg]

Yeah, you definitely can't (legally) bring something like sourdough starter. Posting is no good either, unless you lie on the customs declaration, as mail goes through border controls. I wouldn't worry about it: I read somewhere that sour dough starter soon gets colonised by local flora, so even if it started as Chesire, it would soon be Queenbeyan sour dough.

I watched that trippy video on page one, I take a different approach with my starter, I always get it out of the fridge and mix all the starter with flour and warm water. When it's all bubbly, I take half a cup or so and put it in a clean jar back in the fridge and add more flour, oil, salt etc and begin baking. It makes it feel less like keeping a pet, though, so maybe that's the wrong approach emotionally.

You can leave starter in the fridge for a month and it's still salvageable. DAMHIKT.

I never "feed" my starter. If it's been a week in the fridge and I haven't used it then it's time I did; I make a batch of bread or pizzas, which refreshes the starter.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I have found that there is still a considerable difference between my 2 sourdough starters. I don't keep them in the fridge except in summer. There is both a taste and an activity difference despite the Highlands one now being 6 months old.

 

[Tail End Charlie]

You can leave starter in the fridge for a month and it's still salvageable. DAMHIKT.

You can leave it in the fridge in an air tight jar without using or feeding almost indefinitely. Once it has the black film across the top of it, it'll come to no harm. I've left mine for over ten months with no problem and I've read of others leaving it for five years.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

[QUOTE 4208743, member: 76"]I have made a loaf from my original starter, it tastes bloody lovely. But having followed the instructions to keep the dough moist when it came to bake time it went very flat, not because it sank, but because it lost all it's shape. I guess it is a case of keeping the dough firmer?

Oh and a massive thanks to @SatNavSaysStraightOn for the starters. I will look forward to getting one going again over the weekend, nom nom[/QUOTE]
When the dough is very wet or just wet, it will lose its shape on the manner you have described. You need to either add more flour or less water to the dough when making it. I have found that when kneading it it should be quite difficult to combine all the ingredients at first and actually quite firm/hard to knead. Add kneading progresses it will soften add it will when left to prove. The proofing process actually produces liquid in the form of an acid (as I understand it) which adds to the moisture of the loaf and is what gives it it's flavour. If you are using a cold proofing process in the fridge overnight then a very firm dough to start off with seems to be the way forward. Some of my loaves are actually done in a loaf tin because my OH likes a more moist loaf and prefers a loaf tin style load for his sandwiches. All of our bread is homemade sourdough.

And you are welcome!

 

[Old jon]

Dan Lepard is the baker who introduced me to sourdough bread baking. With a wet / damp / soft dough he recommends, if I can write this understandably, a folding by thirds process. Pat the dough out into a rectangle, fold one third of the length over the rest, fold the other end over, spin ninety degrees, pat out and fold by thirds again. And so on. It does work, but don't ask me how.